The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
09.30.2022 | Longhorn Sports Properties / Learfield
The Air Force Brigadier General will be honored when Texas Football hosts West Virginia on Oct. 1.
Preston F. McFarren has served the Air Force since 1991 as a leader in logistics, training and strategic planning by approaching each mission, assignment and military service member with mindful appreciation for their operational value.
Promoted to Brigadier General in April 2020, McFarren currently serves as the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio; the center is responsible for the total life cycle management of all aircraft, engines, munitions, electronic and cyber systems.
During active duty, McFarren was selected to serve at the Joint Special Operations Command and deployed on numerous high-profile actions. As a career logistician, McFarren specializes in the strategic and tactical movement of forces, figuring out how to pick up and go to any location, bringing in the necessary supplies and equipment to ensure not only the execution of the mission but also quality of life for airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines.
"I think what makes the Air Force and U.S. military the best in existence is that we invest in logistics. We are capable warfighters, because we sustain operations by building out very detailed plans about who moves and when," McFarren said.
In spring 2007, he ran the Department of Defense's busiest aerial port operation at Balad Air Base in Iraq, and from 2009-10, McFarren served as Director of Logistics for the Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he worked with Army and Navy branches, as well as Afghan and NATO forces.
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McFarren said transparency and communication are key components to leading and organizing any number of personnel at numerous locations worldwide.
For instance, while stationed in Iraq, McFarren's operational concern was helping to mitigate ground force risk and reduce convoy size on the road. He explained to the 125 airmen in his charge that every efficiently-loaded plane created smaller convoys.
"It's important in any work for people to know the value of what they do and recognize and connect it to the operation and overall purpose of the mission," McFarren said.
McFarren, whose father served in the Army for 37 years, joined the ROTC as an undergraduate student at the University of Texas, where he graduated with a degree in government. He was commissioned in October 1991 as a Second Lieutenant, and though his original focus was to become a pilot, post-Cold War restructuring set McFarren on the logistical path. He initially served as a flight commander and operations officer, focusing on the air movement of forces; McFarren also has more than 11 years of command experience with service in numerous positions at the joint and higher headquarters level.
Upon joining the reserve, McFarren was chosen to command the 26th Aerial Port Squadron at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
In his civil service, McFarren leads a sales team as a business manager for a pharmaceutical company. He said his logistical military leadership translates to the private sector, because "explaining the why" is universally important so that people understand their roles in the big picture.
"It has been a privilege to serve," McFarren said of his Air Force career. "For any person, it's important to find value in what you do, and I value what we do to protect the country."
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